BY THE NUMBERS -- A's Trio on Record Home Run Pace

Mark Camps

Published 4:00 am, Friday, July 26, 1996

MARK MCGWIRE'S bid for 62 home runs may land him in the record books, but even if he falls short of that lofty mark, he'll likely make history with some of his teammates. McGwire, Geronimo Berroa and Terry Steinbach are teaming up this season to become baseball's most potent threesome. They lead all other trios in the majors with 86 home runs -- nine ahead of the 78 racked up by Seattle's Ken Griffey (29), Jay Buhner (27) and Edgar Martinez (22).

McGwire (37 homers), Berroa (25) and Steinbach (24) are also on track to be one of the greatest trios of all-time. They are on pace to hit 135 homers, which would threaten the 35-year-old record of 143 set in 1961 by the Yankees' Roger Maris (61), Mickey Mantle (54) and Moose Skowron (28). The only other team with three players who had at least 125 homers is the 1927 Yankees' famed Murderer's Row trio of Babe Ruth (60), Lou Gehrig (47) and Tony Lazzeri (18).

Also, with Jason Giambi (19 homers), Scott Brosius (16) and Ernie Young (13) all likely to hit 20 this season, the A's could very well become just the fifth team in big- league history with six players with at least 20 homers. The last team to complete the 20x6 relay was the 1986 Tigers.

MORE McGWIRE: The A's slugger had 32 homers in 57 games (through Wednesday). To put it another way, if McGwire had started the season healthy and played the first 57 games, he would have had 32 homers on June 4. Wow. . . . McGwire started the season with one HR every 12.9 at-bats for his career. That figure has dropped to one every 12.5 at-bats. Babe Ruth's record is one per 11.8 at-bats. . . . With 171 homers in 103 games, the A's are on pace to hit 269 homers and crush the current record of 240 by the 1961 Yankees.

THE BALTIMORE 500: Eddie Murray, traded back to Baltimore last week, needs seven home runs to become the second player to hit his 500th home run while wearing an Orioles uniform. Frank Robinson hit his as a member of the Orioles in 1971.

-- Murray (40 years, 5 months) will be the third player to hit his 500th after age 40. Ted Williams (41 years, 10 months) was the oldest, followed by Willie McCovey (40 years, 5 1/2 months).

NO FISH TALE: The early results are in, and it appears as if the Marlins have turned it around under new skipper John Boles. At the All- Star break, the Marlins were 40-47, hitting .249 and averaging 3.8 runs per game. In 14 games with Boles, they are 8-6, hitting .292 and averaging 6.1 runs a game.

FINALLY, A HIT: Miguel Mejia, a backup outfielder for the Cardinals, became the last major league non-pitcher on an opening-day roster to collect a base hit when he ripped a pinch-hit single in the Cards' 9-1 win over the Cubs last Friday. In the last 10 years, only one opening-day roster player went longer into a season without getting a hit: Tom Lawless of the Cardinals got his first hit of the 1987 season on August 12.

BURBA BLASTS: Ex-Giants pitcher Dave Burba hit home runs in consecutive starts for the Reds this month, becoming the first pitcher of the '90s to do so. The last two pitchers to hit homers in consecutive games in which they appeared also have Bay Area ties. Ex-Athletic Ron Darling hit two while a member of the Mets in June 1989. Journeyman Mike LaCoss did the same for the Giants in June 1986.

FORESHADOWING A FALL: Texas starting pitchers Bobby Witt (8-8, 5.85) and Kevin Gross (9-7, 6.02) have been knocked around pretty good this season, and that should have Rangers' fans concerned. In this century, only three title teams have had a pitcher with at least 15 starts and an ERA greater than 6.00. They were Dave Boswell (6.39) with Minnesota in 1970, Joe Niekro (6.26) with Minnesota in 1987, and Jack Morris (6.19) with Toronto in 1993.